Spring continues

A Grey Tailed Tattler at Kamiso this morning.

Spring gathers pace in Hokkaido. A warm hazy spring day saw us get up very early and go up Mt Hakodate. Lots of common stuff around but no big falls of migrants alas. Most noticeable since last visit were the numbers of Narcissus Flycatcher. They were everywhere. Singing species included Siberian Blue and Japanese Robins, Oriental Cuckoo, Brown and Japanese Thrush, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Narcissus and Blue and White Flycatchers plus loads and loads of Black Faced Bunting and Japanese Bush Warblers. Non singing stuff included Red Flanked Bluetail and Pale Thrush. There were some unidentified things of course. A Pipit flew over without calling (or it could even have been a Yellow Wagtail as it was a very brief view and still quite dark) and god knows what the groups of finches were.

All the common resident species were around including this Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker.



We headed east to check for the Red Necked Pharalopes but they still hadn't arrived. Pelagic Cormorant, Brent Goose and Red Breasted Merganser were offshore but not much else. At Kamiso lingering winter species included Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Goosander. Grey Tailed Tattler were everywhere.



We headed out to Onuma in the afternoon. Many of the same singing species as Mt Hakodate were here. Some new birds for my 2007 list were Asian Brown Flycatcher and Japanese Green Pigeon (which has the weirdest call I've heard in Japan. It sounds like the Clangers from the 70's. Kind of.) The forest is becoming more overgrown and we heard lots of stuff but couldn't find it (like Black Woodpecker). Narcissus Flycatcher was abundant here too.



This is proving to be a bit of a bogey species as far as getting a dcent pic is concerned as is Mandarin Duck.



The Marsh Tits and Nuthatches are still ultra tame and easy to photograph.



Some depth of field issues with the Nuthatch pic (some parts are in focus and some aren't).

I'm already thinking about which lens I should buy next. 400 or 500mm? Do I need/can I even afford image stabilization? Canon? Sigma? Tamron? Tokina? New or second-hand?




So 2 more big games in the footy season (or 3 if you count England's must-win game in Estonia). 2006/7 was not really a vintage season although it will be a great one if Liverpool can beat Milan again. After that game we're going on a 5 night trip to east Hokkaido (we bought a tent and some camping gear today). We went last year in spring and autumn. Cranes, Eagles, Fish Owls, Bears and lots of other goodies.

Some more spring migrants

An Eye Browed Thrush in the local park this morning. There were 2 or 3 of them as well as a few Dusky Thrush all on their way north. Quite a few nice birds in the park. A female Narcissus Flycatcher, a female Red Flanked Bluetail, lots of Japanese White-eye and this singing Eastern Crowned Warbler.



Not great pictures. I've hit a ceiling with the lens I currently have. It's ok for record shots or blog photos like these (that hardly anyone ever sees) but it's simply too soft. Well I suppose it was the cheapest 300mm lens I could find. I'll have to wait a few months for the cash to splash on a better one. Aaargh-before that I have to pay car tax/local tax/ticket back to England/new tent......here's a non too sharp male Red Cheeked Starling.



And here's a Turtle in the moat of the aforementioned local park. I don't know if it's wild or introduced (although I see turtles at Onuma and on the local river sometimes too). And god only knows where they go in winter when the moat is frozen.



The park was full of retirement age men cutting the grass. I'm not joking there must have been over 50 of them. What a racket. And why do they need so many? Oh yeah. Full employment.

We went to Menagawa in the afternoon looking for Red Necked Pharalopes. Every year arriving around May 15-17 tens or maybe hundreds of thousands congregate offshore from Hakodate eastwards to Esan. Today was May 14 and there weren't any. A few Harlequin Ducks were the only things of interest on the sea. Yesterday we went to Yakumo and Onuma but the rain was so heavy I couldn't do much birding. A few Osprey. some passage ducks, no waders at all...........

Wryneck

A Wryneck at Yunokawa this afternoon. A very pleasant spring day and my first visit to the easternmost part of my patch for a while. The Wryneck was the most interesting species and Oriental Great Reed Warbler were the noisiest.



An abundant summer vistor to southern Hokkaido they seemingly sing from any bush near any water. They get bolder as spring develops and sing at the top of bushes so I should be able to get much better photos than this one.



Little Ringed Plovers has also arrived. Other species at Yunokawa included Stonechat, Chestnut Eared, Reed and Black Faced Buntings, Japanese Thrush, Blue & White Flycatcher, Grey Wagtail and the usual common stuff. Here are some photos from the last few days in Hakodate. A Stonechat today, a male Wigeon near my flat earlier in the week and a male Red Cheeked Starling in amongst the cherry blossoms a couple of days ago.









Yesterday in the local park there were lots of Japanese White-eye and a lone male Siskin. Not so many migrants though. Here's a couple of Slaty Backed Gulls relaxing in the park.

Squirrels and other stuff

A Red Squirrel (?) at Onuma this morning. It sort of looks the same as the ones in the UK except not as red (the ones I saw in Bavaria were black). Lots of birds singing in the forest around the lake. Summer migrants included Brown and Japanese Thrush, Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warbler plus Blue & White and Narcissus Flycatchers. Russet Sparrow was abundant, there were 5 species of Tit, 4 species of Woodpecker including a female Black and several Grey Headed, Nuthatch, Treecreeper as well as several displaying male Mandarin Ducks on the lake.






The above Marsh and Varied Tits were easy to photograph but other birds weren't as confiding.






The male Narcissus Flycatcher is one of the most beautiful birds in Japan but all the ones I saw today weren't striking many photogenic poses. And why is a bird as colourful as a male Mandarin Duck so difficult to approach?

After Onuma we went to the western side of the peninsula to Asabu. Not too much here. A couple of Great White Egret, some Chestnut Eared Bunting and several Stonechat. We then headed south to Kikonai. There was another Egret here as well as a lone Whooper Swan and a hunting Osprey. 4 species of wader included Grey Tailed Tattler, Little Ringed Plover, Ruddy Turnstone and Common Sandpiper. My wife took the best Tattler picture and I'm too proud to use it so here's my best effort plus a losusy pic of the Osprey carrying a fish through downtown Kikonai.






Not fast enough for the Osprey. I tried digiscoping the Egret but it was just too dark for a decent pic. We headed back to Hakodate and got Brent Goose, Harlequin Duck, Red Breasted Merganser and Glaucous Gull on the coast. Back at Kamiso there was a female Smew, some more Tattlers and rafts of Scaup offshore.



I've been downloading lots of TV shows/movies again recently. Season 6 of The Shield is awesome and I just finished the first 2 seasons of Deadwood, Saxondale and season 2 of Life on Mars. On my computer I have This is England/Shameless seasons 1-3/Dead Man's Shoes/Dog Soldiers all to watch once the footy season is over.

Yes I do have a life as well.

Chipmunks and migrants

A tame and very cute Ground Squirrel on Mt Hakodate today. I was showing 4 visiting birders my 'patch'. They had arrived on a huge cruise ship and just had a few hours ashore. Mt Hakodate didn't quite live up to my hype and although there were quite a few birds around it was a bit quieter than I'd expected. Bird of the day was this female ROSY FINCH.



Only a record shot and heavily photoshopped. Quite a surprise so late in the season and only the second one I've ever seen in Hokkaido.

There was a reasonable cross section of the commoner migrants around. Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, Blue and White Flycatchers, Red Flanked Bluetails, Pale, Brown and Japanese Thrushes, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Faced and Siberian Meadow Bunting, Red Cheeked Starling, Glaucous Winged Gull plus the usual resident Tits and Woodpeckers.

Here's a male Black Faced Bunting.



The visitors provided pleasant company and it was a beautiful day and my first exercise for a while too. And my wife was happy with the chipmunk family.



So Man U are champions. I'd rather them than Chelsea. This time.

Cherry blossoms and back pains Part 2

The cherry blossoms continue to bloom and my back continues to ache a bit less every day. Bird of the week was a WRYNECK on the river near my flat. Very briefly seen and no photo I'm sorry to say. A few other bits and pieces in Hakodate included a female Brown Thrush, lots of Japanese White-eye, Black Faced Bunting and Japanese Bush Warbler and a male Wigeon on the river today. My wife saw a male Blue and White Flycatcher in the park yesterday whilst I was working. I saw my first ORIENTAL GREAT REED WARBLER of the year this afternoon too.

Here's a male Red Cheeked Starling.



And some Japanese White-eyes feeding on the cherry blossom.



Not a vintage week for birds or bird photos but I'll blame my back for that. But my I'm feeling somewhat better and tomorrow I'm going up Mt Hakodate. I'm showing some visiting birders around. I hope there are lots of migrants for them to see.

We went to Onuma briefly yesterday afternoon and got stuck in a traffic jam heading north out of Hakodate! This is almost unknown in south Hokkaido. Mind you it was the end of Golden Week. Lots in the forest at Onuma. Singing Eastern Crowned Warbler, Blue and White Flycatcher, Japanese Grey and Japanese Brown Thrush plus all the usual paridae and Woodpeckers. Here's an aggressively photoshopped female Black Woodpecker.



And some more cherry blossoms. They were starting to blow off the trees today.



Around May 6th down the years:

1984 (May 6) There were 'hundreds' of Common/Arctic Terns at Penwortham.

1985 (May 6) Another heavy Tern passage at Penwortham.

1986 (May 5) Black Tern, Ruddy Duck and Sedge Warbler at Martonmere.

1987 (May 5) My first ever Night Heron at Redscar near Preston.

1988 (May 7) Whitley Bay. Sandwich Tern, Shag and Purple Sandpiper.

1995 (May 5) Little Tern and Sedge Warbler at Penwortham.

1999 (May 7) Ringed Plover, Whimbrel and '7 possible Little Gull'. What was I smoking that day not to ID a group of seven gulls?

2000 (May 1). My first ever trip up Mt Hakodate. Varied Tit and Long Tailed Rosefinch were among the many common species that were lifers that day.

2003 (May 4 and 7) Hakodate. Siberian Blue Robin, Eye Browed Thrush, Rhinoceros Auklet, Narcissus Flycatcher, Grey Tailed Tattler and lots of other migrants.

2004 (May 1-4) Tobishima and Yamagata/Akita ken. My only 'real' heavy birding in Japan. Tobishima is a vagrant hotspot and we got some rarities. Best was Northern Wheatear (ok it's very rare in Japan), Red Throated Pipit, Hoopoe, my first ever Japanese Robin, Japanese Murrelet, Grey Headed Lapwing and lots and lots of the commoner migrants moving north.

2005 (May 2) Hakodate. Grey Bunting was the best amongst many species of migrant.

2006 (May 3). Yakumo. Wryneck, Mongolian Plover, Gadwall, White Winged Scoter, Slavonian Grebe, Red Throated Diver.

The first 2 weeks of May are usually my favourite birding time of the year. The Terns, waders and passerines at Penwortham, the deluge of migrants at Hakodate, the singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in Munich.........it's a great time to be alive. It's also the end of the footy season of course. Mercifully I don't have to fret about a major tournament for England (and it's looking like I may not in 2008 either).

And what about Liverpool!?!? Whooo-hooo!!Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Jose you arrogant former lackey of General facistismo whatever his name was.

Cherry blossoms and back pains

I can see Hakodateyama (Mt Hkodate) from my balcony. A wide forest clad mountain that is the first landfall for many of the summer migrants to Hokkaido. And this week is the start of the best 2 weeks birding every year. And I'm been almost immobile from backache and can't go to the mountain even though I have a few days off work at the moment. I was able to gingerly go out for a short time today. The cherry blossoms were starting to open. They look nice I admit but after 7 or 8 springs in Japan I place them in the 'another overrated thing about Japan' file.



So I'm missing all those birds passing through. The river near my apartment usually has a few migrants too (in fact I've seen some pretty good birds there over the last 3 or 4 years) and today there were 2 female Red Flanked Blutails. Not a great pic but better than I'd been expecting yesterday when I could hardly move.



Some little brown birds flitting around the bushes turned out to be the 2 commonest migrants, Black Faced Bunting and Japanese Bush Warbler. No more interesting Warblers or Flycatchers unfortunately. A singing Japnese White-eye was the most notable species of the afternoon (I don't see them in town much although they're abundant on the mountain).



Other stuff around included Dusky Thrush, Barn Swallow and more Red Cheeked Starling and Bull Headed Shrike. I at least got a shot of a male Starling. Shame it isn't a very good one though.



It looks like they have a solid relationship. The local pair of Bull Headed Shrike were also out taking the air. They like perching atop bushes in photogenic poses. They also like flying off just as I get within range.



Here are some shots of the commoner stuff.









A Common Teal, a Black Backed Wagtail and a Brown Eared Bulbul.

More spring arrivals

Not a great pic but a Japanese Bush Warbler flitting around on the path at the foot of Hakodateyama this morning. Lots of them present this morning. An abundant summer visitor and their song is probably the most familiar sound of a Japanese summer (well apart from workmen banging away at some pointless construction project of course). The vegetation has grown a lot since I was last in the forest and soon I won't be able to see this skulking species.



The deluge of summmer migrants hasn't quite arrived. Lots of Black Faced Bunting and Japanese White-eye in the forest. 1 Whites Thrush and several Pale Thrush showed briefly and there was 1 Japanese Grey Thrush singing somewhere up on the moutainside. Other notable species included Rustic Bunting, Red Flanked Bluetail as well as the resident Woodpeckers, Tits, Nuthatches etc. This view of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker's behind was sadly the best pic of the day.



Not much in town the last few days. A Black Faced Bunting was singing this morning near my flat and the first Red Cheeked Starlings arrived a couple of days ago. The males are a beautiful bird. Here's a crappy pic of a female hiding behind a branch.



There should hopefully be plenty of oppurtunities to photograph this species as they're very common in town (they nest along the river). Ditto Bullheaded Shrike.



And to finish off a lousy record shot of a male Black Faced Bunting.



Next week is a big public holiday in Japan (Golden week). This usually co-incides with the cherry blossoms in Hakodate (the locals go nuts over these) and the peak migration fortnight begins at the same time. All this and an exciting end to the football season.

Around April 25th down the years:

Busiest birding time of the year begins.

1983 (last week of April) Penwortham. A male Redstart, Black tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Ruff, Red Breasted Merganser and Greenshank.

1984 (last week of April) Penwortham. Long Eared and Little Owls and Whimbrel.

1986 (last week April) Penwortham. Stock Dove, Winchat, Whimbrel. All of these 3 years had lots of Corn Bunting, Willow Tit, Tree Sparrow and Grey Partridge.......

1987 (April 27) Mere Sands Wood. Ruddy Duck, Little Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler and Redpoll.

1995 (April 28) Penwortham. Big flocks of Common and Arctic Terns, lots Wheatears and Yellow wagtail, Sand Martin.


1996 (April 24) Penwortham. Black Tailed Godwit and Whimbrel, Sedge Warbler.

1996 (April 28) Haweswater. Great views of the Golden Eagles. Me and an old friend hiked up the side of the valley and watched them soaring for about an hour. An idyllic spring day. Got stoned on that hillside and had a pint in the village pub afterwards. Seems like a lifetime ago. Both of us were in crappy temorary jobs and had arrived back in Lancashire to stay with our parents. A bit embarassing in our mid 20's. At least life was simple. I haven't seen any Golden Eagles since.

2003 (last week April) Hakodate. Redpoll, Crossbill, Pacific Swift, Harlequin Duck, Grey Headed Woodpecker.

2004 (last week April) Hakodate. Short Tailed Bush Warbler, Crossbill, Rhinoceros Auklet, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Blue and White and Narcissus Flycatchers.

2005 (last week April) Hakodate. More of the above plus Ashy Minivet, Wryneck,Sakhalin Leaf Warbler, Rustic Bunting.........

2006 (last week April) Hakodate. More migrants as per usual ..........Japanese Robin being the most interesting. Elsewhere Hazel Grouse at Onuma (23rd) Black Winged Stilt at Hakodate and Kentish Plover at Asabu (30th).

Hoopoes!!!

A bit of luck today. We were checking out some land near Onuma (with a view to buying some maybe) and when we eventually found the plot of land there were not one but two Hoopoes on the grass. A pretty rare bird in Japan. I saw 1 in Hakodate a couple of years ago and 1 on the vagrant hotspot Tobishima in 2004. I think it may have been split from the Hoopoes found in the Med. Anyway what a great bird. A possible omen? Does this mean we should buy the land? Believe it or not I've actually had several dreams about taking pics of Hoopoes recently. Spooky.



The day started at Kamiso. Not so much here. A few Ducks, the first Common Sandpipers of the spring. A second year Glaucous Gull.

Up at Yakumo we checked out the Heronry (about 20 or so Grey Herons and 1 Night Heron). Also around were Osprey, lots of Reed Buntings, my first Black Faced Bunting of the spring (a singing male), my first singing Japanese Bush Warblers of the season, the usual common Ducks plus a female Smew, a northbound Eurasian Hobby and lots of Glaucous Gulls.

We stopped at Onuma on the way back but there were no Black Woodpeckers. The usual common stuff included a party of 10 or so Whooper Swan resting on their way north, another Osprey and the first singing Brown Thrush this year.

Here's a pic of a female Bullheaded Shrike checking out nest sites near my house last week.




And yet another Nuthatch.



These are 2 pretty crappy pics. 6 species of Gull at Kamiso this morning and a Common Kingfisher near my flat a couple of days ago.



Second year Glaucous Gulls are common at this time of the year and extremely conspicious.



It seems that when birders start taking photographs Kingfishers become their favourite subjects. I still have lots to learn quite clearly.

Exciting end to the footy season with some big games coming up. Are Man U going to end up with nothing? Injuries are exposing the fact their squad is a bit thin. Much as I dislike Man U though I'd rather they win the League than Chelsea (but it'd be nice if they sweat a bit). Liverpool will stop Chelsea winnning the quadruple at least.

The elections are over. Thank god.